Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Keith David was born in New York City's Harlem district and raised in East Elmhurst, in the Queens section of the city. He is the son of Dolores (Dickenson), a New York Telephone manager, and Lester Williams, a payroll operations director. As a child, he realized he wanted to act after playing the cowardly lion in his school's production of "The Wizard of Oz." He later enrolled in New York's High School of the Performing Arts and continued his studies at Juilliard. After graduation, he was hired as an understudy for Tullus Aufidius in William Shakespeare's "Coriolanus." In 1992, he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role in the Broadway play "Jelly's Last Jam."

Keith's extraordinary range of talent is evidenced by his body of work. His films include "The Princess and the Frog", "Coraline", and "Crash". Other credits are "Barbershop", "Agent Cody Banks", and "Requiem for a Dream". Prior to that, Keith was featured in "There's Something About Mary", "Armageddon" and "Dead Presidents". Keith has received Emmy Awards for his narration of two Ken Burns documentaries: "The War" and "Unforgivable Blackness", and was nominated for his narration of "Jazz". He received a daytime Emmy nomination for his work in Showtime's "The Tiger Wood's Story". Keith David gained wide attention in 1986 for his role as King in the Oscar winning film "Platoon". Other of his over 75 film credits includes "Men at Work", "Clockers", and "Pitch Black". Keith has also worked with notable directors including Clint Eastwood ("Bird"), Steven Spielberg ("Always") and John Carpenter ("The Thing" and "They Live"). Born in Harlem, New York and raised in East Elmhurst, Queens, Keith sang in the all borough choir as a boy. He knew he wanted to act at the age of nine when he appeared as the cowardly lion in his school's production of "The Wizard of Oz". He later attended New York's famed High School of the Performing Arts and then graduated from Juilliard. There he studied under such voice and speech teachers as Robert Williams and Edith Skinner.

Trade Mark (4)

Trivia (13)

Following the film Platoon (1986), Charlie Sheen - who starred in the film - did a TV interview and credits David with saving his life. While shooting in an open-doored Huey gunship, the helicopter banked too hard, and Sheen was thrown towards - and would have gone through - the open door. David grabbed Sheen by the back and pulled him back in.

His ex-wife attended Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) with Lisa Nicole Carson where they both appeared (and worked backstage) in theater department productions.

Studied acting with Michael Howard in New York City.

In February 2010, he became the first actor to provide his voice for two films nominated for Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. He played the role of The Cat in Coraline (2009) and the villain Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog (2009).

He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Platoon (1986) and Crash (2005).

Personal Quotes (14)

Actually, I wanted to be an actor when I was two years old.

[on Gargoyles (1994)] I was very moved by Goliath. I was moved by playing him. They're not displaced citizens but they are citizens from another time and another place that were placed in this modern context and maintained that integrity.

You get to celebrate the content of someone's character as opposed to the color of their skin or their outward appearance. That to me is the most impressive element about Gargoyles (1994) because it forces you to deal with who they are. Not what they look like or anything external. You are dealing with internal principles about these people.

I don't think they're going to pay me to play Mufasa.

I came out singing, the doctor slapped me on the head, and I started singing.

I am working on my nightclub act, definitely want to do more singing.

But Gargoyles, bar none, is the most fun I've ever had in life.

And it has some weight, I mean, the whole history of the gargoyles, that's some wonderful stuff.

What has been happening more lately - of course, I also put in my bio, I say I do the voice of Goliath, but some people go - you know, I say something, and it's a funny thing when you work in this business, people will talk out loud in front of you like you're not there.

Well, you know, I played Mufasa in the workshop of The Lion King.

My whole life, I always wanted to be an actor.

It can't hurt, publicity is publicity, controversy and all that, it's all good.